Worth Mentioning...is a weekly roundup by South Jersey Online's own DJ McAneny of all the things you should know about on the Web. News tips, comments, concerns, disagreements, love mail and hate mail greatly appreciated and accepted atsjnjog2@sjnewsco.comor by calling(856) 686-3661.

--------To... Some Cowards: An Open Letter.

Here's how this is going to work today. I sure would like to call some people a bunch of names, but I can't. I'd like to tell you exactly how I feel, but my language is unfortunately limited in an all-ages, news-oriented environment.

So I will rely on euphemisms. Because I assume that my target audience will both have a slightly inhibited ability to access the internet, and, in the rare event that said target audience does happen to have access the internet, would be limited by their lack of ability to "read real good," I will define in small words what a euphemism is, since I will assume you don't know.

Webster's:
-- Euphemism: 1 - The use of a word or phrase that is less expressive or direct, but considered less distasteful, less offensive.

So, when I'm calling you something, I really mean something else.

Like a doorknob. In this instance, I don't necessarily mean the tool used to open and close our home portals. But I can't call you a mean name, so I'll call you a doorknob, because a doorknob has no brain, morals, or integrity, just like you. Or I'll call you an Noob, since I'll be pwning you today. That's gaming terminology, but it seems more appropriate than many other four-letter words I'd like to hurl at you.

So, by now, those reading are surely asking themselves, exactly who is my target audience? Who am I directing all of what would appear to be anger and disgust towards.

Well, I don't know. I have no way of knowing.

And it's strange, because I've never had so much to say to people I can't address formally. So I've got to rely on all of you out there. If you know these people, or someone like them, maybe you can help me out.

Pass the message along. Let them know I'm calling them out.

I'm talking to all the cowards running around in our streets recently. All the thugs, or gangstas, or tough guys, or whatever preference they have as an identity.

The guys who run around together in a little pack and pick a fight with some poor college kids who are going to school for a higher education with the hopes to better their lives in some way. The guys who think beating up some kid when it's three on one makes them somehow tough, instead of just a lemming. (< This would be the first example of me calling you something other than the appropriate bad name. Make note of it.)

I'm talking to people like the dad, a real stand up guy, Tyrone Spellman, who punched his 17-month-old baby daughter to death when she knocked over his Xbox. To the parents like Andrea and Daniel Kelly, who allegedly let their bedridden daughter, suffering from cerebral palsy, die of starvation, then had the gall to try and sue the city of Philadelphia. To the complete dirtbag who took advantage of a little old couple this past week, leaving a loved husband and father dead, and a mother and wife traumatized for life.

To all the scumbags in our area. The cowards and the lowlifes and the idiots who think they're tough. The rapists and the child molesters. I'm talking to all of you. I'm talking to the people who think carrying around a gun makes them "hard" or "street." To the underdeveloped morons out there who think the ability to permanently shatter not just a single life, but all other lives intertwined with it, is tough. To all the guys who think rolling with a crew to go take care of business give them "cred."

It doesn't. It makes you less of a man. It makes you a coward. A Bonaparte with a Napoleon complex. You need a gun to feel big and your too scared to take care of your own business. You need backup because you know you're too much of a Dick Cheney to even commit your crimes on your own.

Gone are the days when there was honor, even in the committing of crimes. Fights used to be between two real men who had a problem with one another. Now, as soon as someone feels they've been wronged, they either start threatening someone with talk of shooting them, or call up their "boys" to take care of business.

You're nothing. Cowards. Lower than any real man.

A real man works hard, even when things look pretty crappy, to provide for his family, the ones he loves, make something of himself, make his mom proud. A real man has respect for those around him and can take care of himself.

Any man who needs a gun, a crew, or to pick on those weaker than him, to feel big - he is small. And he is certainly not a man.

You - if you are one of these people - YOU are small, and YOU are not a man.

If you have the need to contact me and express your opinion in this matter, including any members of the target audience, feel free to give me a call at (856) 686-3661. We can make it on the record or off. Anyway, you've got my number, and I've got yours.

Sincerely,
-- DJ McAneny

--------In Other News...

-- A Royal Navy warship decided to go give a hand to a Danish ship under attack by pirates. It was a blowout, as should be expected. This is a good example of the bully being put in place. More innocent people should have access to military backup.

-- In a sad twist of fate, a woman on her way to the cemetery to bury her husband's casket died when a traffic accident threw the steel coffin into the back of her head, killing her instantly. I guess he just couldn't wait around too long for her to join him.

-- An 8-year-old boy murdered his father in Arizona with a .22-calibre rifle. The world is a strange and scary place.

-- Have you ever wanted to see the faces behind the voices of your favorite current cartoons. The people behind the great Bart Simpson and Peter Griffin. If so, you are in luck.

-- The greatest Phillies fan I've seen yet.

-- What kind of photos would result in asking two complete strangers to make physical contact for a picture? Richard Renaldi decided to find out, and the results make quite an impression upon seeing the varying level of comfort between people from all different walks of life. Sometimes, the awkwardness is completely obvious while other times, not so much. Make sure to flip through the whole album, as there are some real gems.

-- Sometimes, to feel better, you just gotta dance...

--------Science and Tech...

-- Google has enabled an interesting feature that allows users to follow the trends of any spreading flu activity throughout the country. Useful for keeping an eye on the reach of the virus. New Jersey's flu activity was currently "Low," though most of its southern neighbors were "Moderate," including Delaware.

-- A review of the bombing strategies used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was opened to the public and can be seen here. It is relevant this week because some photos of the destruction those horrific bombs left behind were recently discovered. It is certainly a haunting sight to behold.

-- There is a discussion going on in the scientific community surrounding the ability for a human to possibly live to the age of 1,000. Some are saying that person may very well be alive today, not even knowing it could be made possible for them to reverse aging. Others in the field are saying we shouldn't want that to happen.

-- New scientific developments have allowed toy companies to create a better, furrier version of the Slinky.